Non-conventional Energy - ESCAP Repository

VATIS UPDATE: Non-conventional Energy Jan-Feb 2009 1

HighlightsSilicon solar cell with 25 per cent efficiency

A new design in wind turbineFish technology for energy from slow currents

A low-cost fuel cell electrolyteLightweight hydrogen ‘tank’

Biofuel production using fungi

Vol. 2 No. 94 Jan - Feb 2009ISSN 0971-5630

Non-conNon-conNon-conNon-conNon-convvvvventionalentionalentionalentionalentional EnerEnerEnerEnerEnergggggyyyyy

APCTTASIAN AND PACIFIC CENTRE FOR TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY

VATIS UPDATE

2 VATIS UPDATE: Non-conventional Energy Jan-Feb 2009

The shaded areas of the map indicate ESCAP members and associate members

The Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT), a subsidiarybody of ESCAP, was established on 16 July 1977 with the objectives: to assist themembers and associate members of ESCAP through strengthening their capabilities todevelop and manage national innovation systems; develop, transfer, adapt and applytechnology; improve the terms of transfer of technology; and identify and promote thedevelopment and transfer of technologies relevant to the region.

The Centre will achieve the above objectives by undertaking such functions as:

Research and analysis of trends, conditions and opportunities;Advisory services;Dissemination of information and good practices;Networking and partnership with international organizations and key stakeholders; andTraining of national personnel, particularly national scientists and policy analysts.

Cover Photo

GenHy2500 automated PEM water electrolyser +hydrogen reservoir + fuel cell

(Credit: GenHyPEM international researchprogramme for the development of Proton

Exchange Membrane (PEM) water electrolysersfor the production of hydrogen, France)


Vol. 2 No. 94 Jan - Feb 2009

IN THE NEWSIN THE NEWSIN THE NEWSIN THE NEWSIN THE NEWS 44444

International Renewable Energy Agency to open shop Clean energy tomeet half of Asia’s power needs Indo-Japanese collaboration on fuel celltech on the cards Pakistan eyes power from molasses ADB loan toBangladesh for energy infrastructure Indonesia biofuel policy to reducepalm oil exports Philippine renewable energy law comes into force

Malaysia doubles 2008 biodiesel export forecast

SOLAR ENERGYSOLAR ENERGYSOLAR ENERGYSOLAR ENERGYSOLAR ENERGY 66666

Light concentrator eliminates need for solar tracking High-efficiencydye solar cell Two-faced approach creates better solar cells Tinysolar cells hold promise of portable power Method to extend life oforganic solar cells Expert creates large-area solar cell using nanotech

Vacuum processing for solar cells First silicon solar cell with 25 percent efficiency

WIND ENERGYWIND ENERGYWIND ENERGYWIND ENERGYWIND ENERGY 99999

Laser system for wind sensing A new design in wind turbineKites for off-grid power Ancient Persia inspires modern wind catcherTechnologies to protect wind turbine in voltage dips More efficient wind

turbines

WAVE/TIDAL ENERGYWAVE/TIDAL ENERGYWAVE/TIDAL ENERGYWAVE/TIDAL ENERGYWAVE/TIDAL ENERGY 1 11 11 11 11 1

Buoy turns waves into electricity Easy maintenance tidal energysystem ‘Fish technology’ for energy from slow water currents Noveltechnology for power from waves

FUEL CELLSFUEL CELLSFUEL CELLSFUEL CELLSFUEL CELLS 1 21 21 21 21 2

A low-cost fuel cell electrolyte Zinc-fuelled portable power packMobile power based on fuel cells Hydrogen fuel cells to power buses

HYDROGEN ENERGYHYDROGEN ENERGYHYDROGEN ENERGYHYDROGEN ENERGYHYDROGEN ENERGY 1 31 31 31 31 3

Hydrogen generated using red hot steel Ultra low-carbon hydrogenproduction See-through hydrogen generator Fifth generation fuel-cellvehicle Lightweight hydrogen ‘tank’ A revisit to an old hydrogenproduction experiment

BIOMASS ENERGYBIOMASS ENERGYBIOMASS ENERGYBIOMASS ENERGYBIOMASS ENERGY 1 51 51 51 51 5

Olive stones could yield biofuel Biodiesel filtration technologyBiofuel production using fungi Biogas converted to electricity and heat

using fuel cells Home-grown biodiesel Research in earnest onbiofuels Converting glycerol into methanol Production of bio-ethanolfrom bamboo Pond scum power: Fuel from algae

RECENT PUBLICATIONSRECENT PUBLICATIONSRECENT PUBLICATIONSRECENT PUBLICATIONSRECENT PUBLICATIONS 1 81 81 81 81 8

TECH EVENTSTECH EVENTSTECH EVENTSTECH EVENTSTECH EVENTS 1 81 81 81 81 8

VATIS* UpdateNon-conventional Energy

is published 6 times a year to keep thereaders up to date of most of therelevant and latest technological

developments and events in the field ofNon-conventional Energy. The Update istailored to policy-makers, industries and

technology transfer intermediaries.

Website: http://www.techmonitor.net

Editorial BoardDr. Krishnamurthy Ramanathan

Mr. Nanjundappa SrinivasanDr. Satyabrata Sahu

ASIAN AND PACIFIC CENTREFOR TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY

Adjoining Technology BhawanQutab Institutional Area

Post Box No. 4575New Delhi 110 016, IndiaTel: (91) (11) 2696 6509

Fax: (91) (11) 2685 6274E-mail: [email protected]

Website: http://www.apctt.org

The designation employed andthe presentation of material in the

publication do not imply theendorsement of any product, process

or manufacturer by APCTT.

This publication has been issuedwithout formal editing

* Value Added TechnologyInformation Service

CONTENTS


IN THE NEWS

InternationalRenewable EnergyAgency to open shopThe Madrid preparatory conferenceattended by 51 governments agreedon the statutes of an InternationalRenewable Energy Agency (IRENA).IRENA will promote the utilizationof renewable energy such as windenergy by providing accurate infor-mation about these key technolo-gies. The founding treaty will besigned in January 2009.

“The world urgently needs such anindependent international authorityproviding unbiased information aboutrenewable energy...we expect thatIRENA will closely co-operate withthe renewable energy sector world-wide,” said Dr. Anil Kane, Presidentof World Wind Energy Association(WWEA). “One key task for IRENAwill be to transfer the know-howfrom the leading countries to allother countries so that they canalso start implementing wind powerutilization on large scale and bene-fit from its advantages immediately,”said WWEA Secretary General, Mr.Stefan Gsänger. Contact: Mr. StefanGsänger, Secretary General, WorldWind Energy Association, Charles-de-Gaulle-Str. 5, 53113 Bonn, Ger-many. Tel: +49 (228) 369 4080; Fax:+49 (228) 369 4084; Website: www.wwindea.org.

Source: www.ecoreporter.de

Clean energyto meet half ofAsia’s power needsRenewable energy sources will ac-count for 67 per cent of the electricityproduced in developing countries inAsia by 2050, according to a reportby Greenpeace and the EuropeanRenewable Energy Council (EREC).Renewable energy will supplant “theneed for nuclear energy and redu-

cing requirements for fossil fuel-fired power plants,” said the reportentitled ‘Energy [R]evolution: A Sus-tainable World Energy Outlook’.

The report shows that aggressiveinvestment in renewable power gen-eration and energy efficiency couldcreate an annual US$360 billionindustry worldwide, provide half ofthe world’s electricity, and slash overUS$18 trillion in future fuel costswhile protecting the climate, saidGreenpeace in a statement. It pro-vides a practical blueprint to rapidlycut energy-related carbon dioxideemissions to help ensure that green-house gas emissions peak and thenfall by 2015. This can be achievedwhile ensuring developing econo-mies in Southeast Asia, China, Indiaand other developing nations haveaccess to the energy that they needin order to develop.

The report estimates that additionalcosts for coal fuel from today untilthe year 2030 are as high as US$15.9 trillion, more than what is re-quired for implementing the Energy[R]evolution scenario. Renewableenergy sources will produce elec-tricity without any further fuel costsbeyond 2030, creating an enormousnumber of jobs and helping to liftthe world out of recession.

“The global market for renewable en-ergy can grow at double digit ratesuntil 2050, and overtake the size oftoday’s fossil fuel industry,” Mr. Oli-ver Schäfer, EREC Policy Directorsaid. “From around 2015 onwards,we are confident that renewableenergies across all sectors will bethe most cost-effective energy ca-pacities. The renewable industry isready and able to deliver the need-ed capacity to make the energyrevolution a reality. There is no tech-nical impediment, but a politicalbarrier to rebuild the global energysector,” he added.

Source: www.gmanews.tv

Indo-Japanesecollaboration on fuelcell tech on the cardsBharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.(BPCL), one of India’s state-run oilmarketing company, is planning togenerate up to 1,000 MW of powerthrough fuel cell technology overthe next three to five years, and isholding talks with Japan’s NipponOil Corporation for technology col-laboration. The technology in focusis a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, theworld’s first co-generation systemfor residential use based on lique-fied petroleum gas, developed in2005 by Nippon Oil, Japan’s largestoil importer and distributor.

If BPCL is able to commercializethis project, it would be a first in thecountry. While BPCL did not revealthe investment details, an analystsaid it could range between aboutRs 40 billion (US$786 million) andRs 80 billion (US$1.57 billion) for500-1,000 MW capacity.

The company recently developed aprototype fuel cell-based energysystem using hydrogen as fuel. Theproject involves production of hydro-gen through electrolysis of alkalinewater. BPCL is entering into the non-conventional energy business. It issetting up a 1-MW capacity grid-connected solar farm in Punjab,and 5 MW capacity windmills inMaharashtra and Rajasthan.

Source:www.business-standard.com

Pakistan eyespower from molassesA recent meeting chaired by theSecretary of Pakistan’s PlanningCommission was informed aboutthe potential of producing 1,600 MWof electricity through biogas produ-ced using molasses, a by-productfrom sugar mills. There are about


In the News

80 sugar mills in the country andeach one has the capacity of easilyproducing 20-25 MW power, saidan official who attend the meeting.

The sugar industry stakeholdersand the officials of the departmentsconcerned – including the Ministryof Food, Agriculture and Livestock,Ministry of Petroleum and PakistanSugar Mills Association – attendedthe meeting to explore the full po-tential of the power co-generationof the industry. The meeting agreedto make a comprehensive policyon tariff for power produced throughsugar mills and ethanol production.

Sugar mills across the country haveturbines and generators that theycould use to produce this cheapersource of energy. It was suggestedduring the meeting that the gov-ernment should impose regulatoryduty on or completely ban the exportof molasses for making use of it toproduce biogas for electricity gen-eration. The meeting noted that thepower produced from molasses willbe much cheaper than the powerproduced from other sources.

Source: www.dailytimes.com.pk

ADB loan toBangladesh forenergy infrastructureThe Asian Development Bank (ADB)and the Government of Bangladeshrecently signed a loan agreement ofUS$165 million for Public-PrivateInfrastructure Development Facility(PPIDF). ADB is providing US$82million to help finance large infra-structure projects; US$50 million toassist small and medium energyprojects primarily in rural and semi-urban areas; and US$33 million topromote renewable energy, suchas solar-powered home systemsand biomass installations though amicro-finance based, direct salesprogramme.

A technical assistance grant of US$500,000 will also be provided forcapacity building to support projectimplementation. The grant will sup-port PPIDF, which seeks to catalyseprivate sector investments of up toUS$600 million, mostly in energy,and could add at least 900 MW ofpower generation capacity in Bangla-desh and provide electricity to about100,000 more households throughthe renewable energy programme.

Source: nation.ittefaq.com

Indonesia biofuelpolicy to reducepalm oil exportsExports of palm oil from Indonesia,the largest producer, may declineby as much as 1.5 million tonnesa year after the nation made the useof renewable energy mandatory, Mr.Bayu Krisnamurthi, a deputy to Mr.Boediono, Coordinating Minister forEconomic Affairs, has stated.

Indonesia’s biofuel industry can pro-duce between 1.3 million tonnes to1.5 million tonnes annually, said Mr.Krisnamurthi. Capacity may doubleto 3 million tonnes by 2010, he said.However, a slump in exports fromIndonesia, the top producer of thetropical oil, may help support pricesthat fell to a two-year low in October2008 on concern that slowing globaleconomic growth will dent demandfor commodities.

Source:www.business-standard.com

Philippine renewableenergy law comesinto forcePresident of the Philippines, Ms.Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has saidthat new Renewable Energy Act isthe “first and most comprehensiverenewable energy law in SoutheastAsia” that would enable the country

capture part of the soaring invest-ments in renewable energy develop-ment. The new law – Republic Act9513 – provides fiscal and non-fiscalincentives for renewable energy in-vestors. These include tax creditson domestic capital equipment andservices, special realty tax rateson equipment and machinery, taxexemption of carbon credits, duty-free importation mechanisms andincome tax holidays.

The Act also provides for the estab-lishment of a Renewable PortfolioStandard system, which would re-quire electricity suppliers to sourcea certain part of their energy supplyfrom renewable resources such aswind, solar, hydro, geothermal andbiomass. The standard system willbe complemented by a feed-in tariffsystem to encourage the speedyentry of renewable energy projects.

Source: pepei.pennnet.com

Malaysia doubles2008 biodieselexport forecastMalaysia has raised its 2008 bio-diesel export forecast to 200,000tonnes, more than double that of2007 exports. “Export of biodieselis picking up in volume and speed.The spread between the selling priceof palm methyl ester and the feed-stock is allowing biodiesel produ-cers to make some money,” saidPlantation Industries and Commo-dities Minister, Datuk Peter Chin.The Minister had earlier estimatedbiodiesel exports to grow by one-and-a-half times from last year. Mr.Kohilan Pillay, Deputy Minister forPlantation Industries and Commo-dities, said that of the 91 biodiesellicences issued to date, 15 plantswith a combined 1.6 million tonnescapacity have been built, and fiveof these are exporting methyl ester.

Source: www.btimes.com.my


SOLAR ENERGY

Light concentratoreliminates needfor solar trackingIn the United States, the Massachu-setts Institute of Technology (MIT)has developed a light concentrationsystem for solar cells that has noneed to track the sun. The methodcan utilize display glass and evenwindow glass in homes and officebuildings as solar concentrators. Inaddition, it helps reduce the costof the solar cell system to a tenthor less.

Until now, Fresnel lenses and si-milar materials have been used insolar cell concentrators, but alongwith mechanisms to track the sun’smotion. The new concentrator hasno lenses – it merely uses a lightguide. It consists of an organic thinfilm with fluorescent or phosphore-scent properties placed on a sheetof glass with a high refractive indexof about 1.8. Light enters the lightguide, and only light of a specificwavelength is absorbed by the or-ganic material, which emits light ofa slightly longer wavelength. Thisemitted light travels inside the glassand is collected at the edges.

If solar cells were to be placed atwindow edges, it would be theore-tically possible to use small solarcells to generate the same amountof electrical energy as a solar cellof the same area as the light guide.The concentration function of thelight guide is not affected by theangle of incidence, making trackingmechanisms unnecessary. Light

concentration efficiency is deter-mined by the ratio of light guidearea to the area of the solar cellsmounted at the glass sheet edges,and by the efficiency with which lightis transmitted to the edges by thelight guide. If the light guide area isincreased, the light concentrationefficiency increases geometricallyas the ratio of areas, but light guideefficiency drops. This imposes limitson maximum light guide area.

The effective efficiency of the newlydeveloped solution is about 10-61times higher than the solar cell area.An MIT source said the improvementis due to a better understanding ofthe organic materials, improved filmgrowth technology and other factors.Only the light guide has been fabri-cated at present; measurements ofperformance when mated to an ac-tual solar cell are scheduled for thefuture.

Source: techon.nikkeibp.co.jp

High-efficiencydye solar cellAn untreated silicon solar cell onlyabsorbs 67.4 per cent of sunlightshone upon it – meaning that nearlyone-third of that sunlight is reflec-ted away and thus unharvestable.Dr. Shawn-Yu Lin, a physics pro-fessor at Rensselaer PolytechnicInstitute, the United States, and histeam have nano-engineered an anti-reflective coating that has absorbed96.21 per cent of sunlight shone onit – meaning that only 3.79 per centof the sunlight was reflected away.This huge gain in absorption wasconsistent across the entire spec-trum of sunlight, from ultraviolet tovisible light and infrared, and movessolar power a significant step for-ward towards economic viability. Astationary solar panel treated withthe coating would absorb 96.21 percent of sunlight irrespective of thesun’s position in the sky. Along with

significantly better absorption ofsunlight, Dr. Lin’s discovery couldthus enable a new generation ofstationary, more cost-efficient solararrays.

Source: nextbigfuture.com

Two-faced approachcreates better solarcellsDye-sensitised solar cells designedfor outdoor conditions typically havean efficiency of about 6 per cent atpresent. Dr. Michael Grätzel of theSwiss Federal Institute of Technol-ogy in Switzerland – who co-inventeddye-sensitised solar cells in 1991– had thought it might be possibleto double the efficiency of his low-cost cells simply by designing onethat collects light from both sidessimultaneously. Working with Dr.Seigo Ito of the University of Hyogo,Japan, Dr. Grätzel’s team has nowachieved just that. Their new dye-sensitised solar cell is almost asefficient at light-to-energy conver-sion when it strikes the rear sideas when it strikes the front.

To achieve the trick, Dr. Grätzel’steam first replaced the opaque backpanel with a second sheet of glass,making the entire device transpa-rent to let light into the system alsofrom the rear. The new panel, coatedwith tin oxide, acted as the secondelectrode, giving electrons back tothe electrolyte and thus completingthe circuit.

Dr. Grätzel’s team experimentedwith varying the thickness of thedye-filled layer. They found that ifthat layer was around 15 µm thick,the solar cell converted 6 per centof the light arriving through its frontinto electricity and a further 5.5 percent of the light arriving through therear. “There is always an albedo ef-fect [as light bounces off surfaces]and on a cloudy day, collecting light

MIT's Concentrating Light Guide


Solar Energy

from both sides will buy you almostdouble the normal efficiency,” saysDr. Grätzel. Other electrolytes havereached 10 per cent or even higher,he adds. Using those electrolytesin the new two-sided solar cell canhelp reach efficiencies of 15 to 20per cent, which is better than theperformance of silicon wafer solarcells under similar conditions.

Source:technology.newscientist.com

Tiny solar cellshold promiseof portable powerResearchers have developed someof the tiniest solar cells ever made.So far, they have managed to pull11 volts of electricity from a smallarray of the organic cells, which areeach just a quarter of the size of agrain of white rice, said Dr. XiaomeiJiang from the University of SouthFlorida, the United States, who ledthe research.

“Because it is in a solution, you candesign a special spray gun whereyou can control the size and thick-ness. You could produce a pasteand brush it on,” Dr. Jiang said. Sheenvisions the solar cells being usedeventually as a coating on a varietyof surfaces, including clothing. Thecells might generate enough energyto power small electronic devices orcharge a cell phone, for example.

The tiny cells from Dr. Jiang’s labare made from an organic polymerthat has the same electrical pro-perties of silicon wafers but can bedissolved and applied to flexiblematerials. “The main componentsare carbon and hydrogen – mate-rials that are present in nature andare environmentally friendly,” shesaid. The researchers showed thatan array of 20 of these cells couldgenerate 7.8 V of electricity, abouthalf the electricity needed to run a

microscopic sensor for detectingdangerous chemicals and toxins.They are now refining the manu-facturing process with the hope ofdoubling that output to 15 V.

Source: www.reuters.com

Method to extend lifeof organic solar cellsBelgium’s IMEC has reported thatits associate laboratory, Institute forMaterials Research in Microelec-tronics (IMOMEC), has developed amethod to stabilize organic solarcells, with multi-fold improvementin cell lifetimes. IMOMEC, locatedon the campus of the Hasselt Uni-versity, said the research paves theway for commercial organic solarcells with an operational lifetime ofmore than five years. The research-ers optimized the nanomorphologyof the active layer, creating a morestable mix of organic compoundsthat can trap photons and transportthem to an electrical contact.

Organic solar cells deteriorate asthe compounds tend to separateinto different phases, reducing con-version efficiency. IMEC has shownthat this phase segregation is rela-ted to the organic polymer’s mobility,and that fixing the nanomorphologyof the polymers could improve theirlifetimes.

To stabilize the nanomorphology ofthe active layer, IMOMEC develop-ed conjugated polymers. Experi-ments on bulk heterojunction organicsolar cells based on the materialshowed no degradation after 100hours, whereas reference cells de-graded after a few hours. The result,IMEC said, is a lifetime improve-ment by at least a factor of 10. Thecells achieved efficiencies near 4per cent, with an expectation thatefficiencies could be improved tomore than 10 per cent.

Source: www.semiconductor.net

Expert creates large-area solar cell usingnanotechProf. Arie Zaban, Head of Bar-IlanUniversity’s Nanotechnology Insti-tute in Israel, claims he has createdusing nanotechnology a solar cell100 times larger than a typical solarcell. An expert in photovoltaics, hedemonstrated how metallic wiresmounted on conductive glass canform the basis of solar cells withefficiency similar to that of conven-tional, silicon-based cells, but thatare much cheaper to produce.

While Prof. Zaban’s earlier effortsproduced photovoltaic cells 1 cm2

in size, he has now achieved a cellmeasuring 10 cm × 10 cm, whichhe hopes would boost the techni-que’s utility in producing commercialamounts of solar power. “We havefound a way to produce platinumnanodots – tiny crystals measuringonly a few nanometres in diameter,”he said, adding that the techniquehelped reduce the amount of plati-num needed by a factor of 40.

Prof. Zaban’s previous research haddeveloped a low-cost process of de-positing semiconductor material ina sponge-like array on top of flexibleplastic sheets. Key to the systemis the use of an organic dye that al-lows the semiconductor, transparentin its natural form, to absorb light.

Source: www.eetindia.co.in

Vacuum processingfor solar cellsSolar cell manufacturing dependson many vacuum-based processes,from plasma-enhanced chemicalvapour deposition of silicon (Si) tolamination of the finished module.For these processes to meet thethroughput needs of the solar cellindustry, high pumping speeds andrapid chamber cycling are critical.


Solar cell manufacturing poses spe-cial challenges for pump designers.For example, the amorphous sili-con (a-Si) cells that achieve the bestconversion efficiency incorporatesubstantial amounts of hydrogenachieved at lower deposition rates.A slower deposition means that thechamber load and unload time is asmaller fraction of the total processtime.

The hydrogen passivates danglingbonds and densifies the film, impro-ving carrier lifetime and reducingrecombination. However, as Mr. CliveTunna, Technical and Commerciali-zation Director for Oerlikon Leybold,explained, hydrogen is bad newsfor vacuum pump designers: thegas is notoriously difficult to pump.At 77ºK that the cold traps in stand-ard cryopumps operate in, hydrogenis still a gas. Hydrogen moleculesare small enough to leak throughseals, and high concentrations ofhydrogen anywhere in the systempose an explosion risk.

Another issue is that a-Si deposi-tion chambers require to be cleanedoften, usually by means of nitrogentrifluoride (NF3) etching. NF3 tendsto corrode seals and pump com-ponents, a problem that OerlikonLeybold addresses by flooding the

components with purge gas. At thesame time, the cleaning processgenerates a large volume of dust.Handling both dust and light gasesin the same system requires care-ful optimization, Mr. Tunna said.

Problems with dust also appear inwafer-based solar cell manufactur-ing, as the crystal growth processproduces large amounts of Si dust.This dust is hazardous because itspontaneously ignites below roomtemperature, and is reactive withwater. To eliminate explosion risks,traditional system designs place acomplex metal dust filter before thepump assemblies. Oerlikon’s pumpdesign mixes air or oxygen with theSi dust, forming non-reactive silicondioxide that can be captured by aless costly standard dust filter.

Vacuum processing appears in adifferent form towards the end ofthe solar cell assembly process,as wafer-based cells are laminatedinto the module frame and encapsu-lated in thin-film ethyl vinyl acetate(EVA) panels. These processes takeplace under vacuum to avoid trap-ping of air and water vapour. How-ever, the volatile monomers fromcuring EVA can attack pump sealsand react with pump oil. Standardpumps require oil replacement afteras little as 200 hours in this envi-ronment, and dry pumps can bedamaged if process gases infiltratethe gear box. Pumps that use oil-cooled rotors prevent polymeriza-tion of EVA by-products, while shaftseal purging helps isolate processgases from the pump oil.

Source:www.renewableenergyworld.com

First silicon solar cellwith 25 per centefficiencyScientists in Australia have devel-oped the first silicon solar cell to

achieve the milestone of 25 per centefficiency. The solar cell has beendeveloped by scientists at the ARCPhotovoltaic Centre of Excellenceof University of New South Wales(UNSW).

The Centre of Excellence alreadyheld the world record of 24.7 percent for silicon solar cell efficiency.Now, a revision of the internationalstandard by which solar cells aremeasured, has delivered the signi-ficant 25 per cent record to the teamled by Prof. Martin Green and Prof.Stuart Wenham. According to Prof.Green, new knowledge about thecomposition of sunlight was thebasis for the jump in performanceleading to the milestone. The newrecord has moved the UNSW teamcloser to the 29 per cent theoreticalmaximum efficiency possible forfirst generation silicon photovoltaiccells.

“Blue light is absorbed strongly, veryclose to the cell surface where wego to great pains to make sure itis not wasted. Just the opposite, thered light is only weakly absorbedand we have to use special designfeatures to trap it into the cell,” saidDr. Anita Ho-Baillie, who heads thehigh efficiency cell research effortof the Centre. “These light-trappingfeatures make our cells act as ifthey were much thicker than theyare,” added Prof. Green. The focusof the Centre is now improving main-stream production.

Source: www.entertainmentandshowbiz.com

Solar Energy

Dr. Anita Ho-Baillie and Prof. MartinGreen with the new solar cell

Clean Development andClimate Programme

USAID’s ECO-Asia Clean Developmentand Climate Programme (CDCP) worksto catalyse policy and finance solutions forclean energy in Asia’s largest developingeconomies through technical assistanceand training, regional co-operation, andknowledge sharing. It is helping thesecountries meet their energy needs throughinitiatives that reduce greenhouse gasemissions and enhance energy security.For more information, contact:USAID ECO-Asia Clean Development

and Climate ProgrammeWebsite: http://usaid.eco-asia.org


WIND ENERGY

Laser systemfor wind sensingThe VindicatorTM laser wind sen-sing system, from Catch the WindLtd., the United States, measuresreal-time horizontal and vertical windspeed and direction data at varyingranges ahead of the sensor loca-tion. The system comprises a fibreoptic laser module, processor, con-trol system interface and a remotelens assembly. The laser moduleand processor are in a separate as-sembly that may be located withinthe wind turbine nacelle or with theremote lens assembly.

Using concepts of Doppler radar,with light as the medium of detec-tion, the Vindicator system quicklysenses air particle movement. Thesystem processor analyses the airparticle movement, producing speedand direction data for wind field de-termination. The first productionvariant of the system will sense thewind out to 300 m; longer rangescan be incorporated, if needed.

The Vindicator works by integratingwith a wind turbine’s control sys-tem. The fibre optic lasers sense thewind that is approaching the tur-bine at a range of 300 m and reportthis to the control system in suffi-cient time to adjust and orient theturbine. Using control algorithms,the control system will decide howbest to exploit the wind and directinternal systems to either changeblade pitch and/or re-orient the na-celle to maintain efficiency, reducethe effects of wind shear and gusts,or maintain a constant blade speed.Contact: Mr. Bill Fetzer, Director ofBusiness Development, Catch theWind Limited, 10781 James PayneCourt, Manassas, VA 20110, UnitedStates of America. Tel: +1 (703) 3930754; E-mail: [email protected].

Source: www.catchthewindinc.com

A new designin wind turbineIn the United Kingdom, BroadStarWind Systems has introduced theAeroCam, a radical new design inwind turbines. The innovative Aero-Cam turbine uses horizontal bladesarranged in a rotating cylindricalstructure, which can be placed onbuildings or to infill existing windfarms. With its parallel rotor bladesgiving it the appearance of a waterwheel, it not only looks radicallydifferent from traditional windmilldesigns, but is also smaller andaerodynamically more efficient.

The main technical innovation in theAeroCam design is its ability tocontinually adjust the pitch of itsrotor blades to an optimum angleas the turbine rotates. This uniqueactive pitch control capability helpsoptimize its aerodynamic perform-ance for the same reasons a birdchanges the shape of its wings inflight. Consequently, AeroCam canhandle a wide range of wind velo-cities, between 6 km/h and 130km/h. It also generates its powerat lower rotational speed; there ishence less noise and vibration, andless wear and tear. AeroCam hasa very low start-up speed, requiringa wind velocity of just 6 km/h, andit starts generating power at an un-precedented 8 km/h, according toBroadStar.

Source: www.marketwatch.com

Kites foroff-grid powerWindLift LLC, the United States, islooking to fly kites to produce power.The company plans to build a kitepackage that costs US$5,000, willclimb up to 300 feet in the air andproduce 10 kW of power. The idealapplication for the initial version oftheir kite power package is waterpumps and irrigation systems inoff-the-grid locations, said WindLiftfounders Mr. Robert Creighton andMr. Bart Bartlett. The kite providesabout a kilowatt per metre for a 5-20 metre kite.

Launching the WindLift kite is verymuch the same process used fornormal kites, which can be done inabout 5-10 minutes in 6-10 mphwinds. Once the kite is in the air, itwill be able to fly by itself; when thewind dies down it will be automa-tically reeled in. Contact: Mr. RobertCreighton, CEO, WindLift LLC.,3825 S. Roxboro Street, Suite 136-251, Durham, NC 27713, UnitedStates of America.

Source: www.earth2tech.com

Ancient Persiainspires modernwind catcherWindation Energy Systems Inc. ofthe United States has developed anew wind power machine inspiredby a centuries-old idea: the Persian“wind catchers”. The wind appliancehas a 8 ft × 8 ft frame around a 10ft high cylinder. Wind blows at thetop and is directed to the bottomwhere it turns a turbine to generateup to 5 kW of electricity.

Mr. Mark Sheikhrezai, WindationCEO and founder, said he was in-spired by ancient Persian buildingsthat use air currents and reservoirsof water to cool buildings. Using dif-ferences in air pressure, these wind

Aerocam: innovative wind turbine


Wind Energy

catcher buildings create a steadyflow of air without any mechanicaldevices. Although Windation’s windappliance does draw air from thetop like these buildings, Mr. Sheikh-rezai used his expertise in rotorsand centrifuges to coax the flow ofthe wind to generate electricity. Asall moving parts are enclosed, thereis no potential danger to bats, birdsor people. The units will work wellwith gusty, inconsistent wind, Mr.Sheikhrezai said.

Source: www.smartplanet.com

Technologies toprotect wind turbinein voltage dipsIn Spain, an engineer at the PublicUniversity of Navarre has developedtwo new methods to protect windgenerators during voltage dips. Inhis Ph.D. thesis, Mr. Jesús LópezTaberna describes a rotor modelthat anticipates how a wind powerunit will behave in these situations.One of the protection techniques,which has already been transferredto a manufacturer, allows the gener-ator turbine to remain in operationduring these voltage dips and thusprevent the wind energy converterfrom ceasing to function.

The growth and development of windenergy converters has been slowedby problems that have arisen fromthe increase in the number of these

connected to the electric grid. Oneof the most important problems isprecisely the manner in which thewind generators behave during vol-tage dips, which happens in a fewmilliseconds. “But, for a machine,this can be an eternity,” explainedMr. López. In fact, an interruptionof half a second in a productive pro-cess can cause the whole processto seize up.

With wind generators, voltage dipscan cause the electronic part of theunit to burn out. The current protec-tion system, the ‘Crowbar’, protectsthe machine but it also halts it, thuscausing the generators to ceaseproducing electricity. As a result,the power dip is even more accen-tuated and, consequently, it is evenmore difficult to bring the voltage upto its normal operating value.

Mr. López produced a rotor modelto study “the role each parameterof the machine plays, how they in-teract, how the current drops if weincrease the leak inductances andso on.” With this model, it is moreor less easy to propose solutions.Mr. López’s second system of pro-tection, also patented, continues tobe developed for applications innew generations of wind turbines.

Source: www.engineerlive.com

More efficientwind turbinesExRo Technologies Inc., a Canadianstart-up company, has developed anew kind of generator that is moreefficient in harvesting energy fromwind. As the new generator runsover a wider range of conditions thanconventional generators do, it couldlower the cost of wind turbines whileincreasing their power output by 50per cent.

When the shaft running through agenerator is turning at the optimalrate, more than 90 per cent of its

energy can be converted into electri-city. If it speeds up or slows down,the generator’s efficiency drops dra-matically. This is a problem in windturbines, as wind speed can varywildly. ExRo’s new design replacesa mechanical transmission with anelectronic one. That increases therange of wind speeds at which itcan operate efficiently and makesit more responsive to sudden gustsand lulls. While at the highest windspeeds the blades will still need tobe pitched to shed wind load, thegenerator will allow the turbine tocapture more of the energy in high-speed winds. As a result, the tur-bine can produce 50 per cent morepower on average over a year, saysMr. Jonathan Ritchey, ExRo’s ChiefTechnology Officer.

In ordinary generators, all coils arewired together. In ExRo’s generator,in contrast, the individual coils canbe turned on and off with electronicswitches. At low wind speeds, onlya few of the coils will switch on toefficiently harvest the small amountof energy available. At higher windspeeds, more coils will turn on toconvert more energy into electricity.The switching is quick enough tosuit fast-changing wind speeds.

Instead of arranging all coils insidea very-large-diameter generator, theExRo generator distributes the coilsamong several small-diameter gen-erators, in stacks along the lengthof the shaft. This keeps the rotoron which the magnets are mountedsmall, making it easy to get it mov-ing or to change its rotation speed.The multiple-stack design also faci-litates customizing the generator fora particular wind site easier. Con-tact: Exro Technologies Inc., 200-1847 Marine Drive, West Vancouver,British Columbia, V7V 1J7 Canada.Fax: +1 (604) 925 9961; E-mail: [email protected].

Source:www.technologyreview.com

Windation’s novel wind turbibe


WAVE/TIDAL ENERGY

Buoy turns wavesinto electricity

A yellow cylinder that floats insidea doughnut bobbing in the waves,just a mile offshore from KaneoheBay Marine Corps Base in Hawaii,the United States, marks the latestphase of a wave energy researchprogramme to power the country’sshore-side military bases and redu-ce dependence on fossil fuel. ThePowerBuoy – which resembles anocean buoy – is being developedby Ocean Power Technologies toconvert the wave energy to electri-cal power. It is 3.65 m in diameter,15.85 m in length and 17 tonnes intotal weight. About 4 m of the devicefloats above water. It has a maxi-mum rated power output of 40 kW.

As the PowerBuoy bobs with therise and fall of the waves, a piston-like structure moves inside its spar.This movement drives a generatoron the ocean floor, producing elec-tricity that is sent to the shore byan underwater cable. The companyhopes to develop a 100 MW systemusing an array of PowerBuoys tolower the cost of generating elec-tricity to US$0.03 to US$0.04 perkilowatt-hour.

Source: www.starbulletin.com

Easy maintenancetidal energy systemSea Generation Ltd. in the UnitedKingdom is on track to begin fulloperation of its giant 1.2 MW Sea-Gen tidal energy system, followingthe replacement of two rotor bladeson the second of its two turbines.The second turbine is now runningunder “test mode”, while the firsthas been generating power into thelocal grid, at varying levels up to itsmaximum of 600 kW.

The blade replacement operationalso demonstrated the benefits ofSeaGen’s design that allows therotors to be raised out of the water,so that it can be maintained a smallservice vessel. When fully opera-tional, the tidal system’s twin rotorswith 16 m diameter will operate forup to 18-20 hours per day to pro-duce enough clean electricity topower around 1,000 homes.

Source: www.gizmag.com

‘Fish technology’ forenergy from slowwater currentsAn engineer from the University ofMichigan (UM), the United States,has built a machine that works likea fish to turn potentially destructivevibrations in fluid flows into clean,renewable power. VIVACE, for VortexInduced Vibrations for Aquatic CleanEnergy, is the first known device thatcould harness energy from water cur-rents slower than 2 knots. Whileconventional turbines and watermills need an average of 5-6 knotsto operate efficiently, most of thecurrents are slower than 3 knots.

VIVACE is a unique hydrokineticenergy system that relies on “vortexinduced vibrations” – undulationsthat a rounded or cylinder-shapedobject makes in a flow of fluid. Theobject puts kinks in the current’s

speed as it skims by, causing toform vortices in a pattern on oppo-site sides of the object. The vorti-ces push and pull the object up anddown or left and right, perpendicu-lar to the current. Both in water andair, these vibrations have damagedbridges, cooling towers, docks, oilrigs, coastal buildings, etc.

Prof. Michael Bernitsas of the UMDepartment of Naval Architectureand Marine Engineering says thatVIVACE copies aspects of fish tech-nology. “Fish curve their bodies toglide between the vortices shed bythe bodies of the fish in front of them.Their muscle power alone cannotpropel them through the water atthe speed they go, so they ride ineach other’s wake.” The workingprototype in Prof. Bernitsas’ lab isjust a sleek cylinder attached tosprings and hanging horizontallyin a tank across a water flow of 1.5knots. The vortices push and pullthe cylinder, creating mechanicalenergy, which the machine convertsinto electricity.

Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Novel technology forpower from wavesIn China, a collaboration betweenChuan Shiyu Machinery and the In-stitute of Electric Engineering of theChinese Academy of Sciences hasrecently worked out a display unitto demonstrate the feasibility of wavepower generation principle that iscompletely different from the con-ventional wave power generationtheory. The new method of powergeneration uses a megnetohydro-dynamic generator, which works bycreating a solid mechanical resis-tance to the waves. The method isclaimed to enjoy several merits,such as high conversion rate, largepower density, compact structure,lower cost and enhanced mobility.

Source: www.most.gov.cn

A PowerBuoy test installation


FUEL CELLS

A low-cost fuel cellelectrolyteIndia’s National Chemical Laboratory(NCL) has developed an efficient,low-cost electrolyte for hydrogen-based fuel cells. NCL researchershave innovated a variant of poly-benzimidazole – a type of polymerused in making spacesuits – thatcan be used as an electrolyte.

As making fuel cells that use purehydrogen is prohibitively expensive,scientists make do with the cheaperdiluted hydrogen. Diluted hydrogen,however, has its set of problemssuch as a higher working tempera-ture and corrosive reactions thatreduce performance of the cells.The polybenzimidazole variant pro-mises to be an electrolyte that canget around these problems, saidDr. K. Vijayamohan, a senior NCLscientist.

Most hydrogen fuel cells currentlyuse DuPont’s Nafion polymer. TheNCL polybenzimidazole variant “willbe at least 100 times cheaper tomanufacture than Nafion,” said Dr.Vijayamohan. The new electrolyteis superior to Nafion as it is resis-tant to carbon monoxide and worksefficiently at 150ºC, he said, whileNafion doesn’t tolerate tempera-tures above 80ºC. However, crucialparameters on the variant’s viability,such as how many hours it couldrun without a replacement, remainto be verified.

Source: www.livemint.com

Zinc-fuelledportable power packPower Air, start-up company in theUnited States, says next year it willintroduce a small portable powerpack that employs zinc-air fuel celltechnology developed at the Law-rence Livermore National Laboratory.The technology – an alternative to

lithium-ion battery or hydrogen fuelcell – creates an electrical currentby exposing a zinc solution to theoxygen in air. Power Air’s productline, called ZAFC PowerPacks, isaimed at people who need an auxi-liary source to extend power of acell phone for another hour at theend of the day.

In a zinc-air battery or fuel cell, zincpowder or pellets are fed into anelectrolyte solution. Exposing thesolution to air causes a chemicalreaction that starts the flow of elec-tricity. With the ZAFC Powerpack,the consumer would open a lid onthe pack to get the current flowing.Inside is a gel that contains the zincpowder and electrolyte. The tech-nology has many advantages overexisting battery technologies andthat zinc is a better energy sourcethan, say, lithium. Zinc is alreadyused in many products, includingbatteries, and it is abundant. It hashigh energy density, which meansthat batteries or fuel cells can packmore power into a given space ascompared with other batteries. It isalso safe, and the material can berecycled.

Source: news.cnet.com

Mobile powerbased on fuel cellsIn the Netherlands, a collaborationbetween Bredenoord and NedStackFuel Cell Technology BV has resul-ted in the development of “Purity”,a prototype mobile power generatorbased on fuel cells. Purity is freefrom polluting emissions – such asoxides of carbon, nitrogen and sul-phur – and can be used whereverAC power is needed. The PolymerElectrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuelcell stack sees to the conversionof hydrogen into electricity, waterand heat. The system can produce4 kW power for about 40 hours withstandard hydrogen cylinders.

NedStack’s fuel cell technology isat the base of the Purity power gen-erator. Purity is mobile and worksoff-grid. The power supply comeswith a high efficiency of 40-60 percent, and zero vibration, sound andhazardous emissions. Contact: Mrs.Margien Storm van Leeuwen, Ned-Stack Fuel Cell Technology BV,P.O. Box 5167, 6802 ED Arnhem,The Netherlands. Tel: +31 (26) 3197600; Fax: +31 (26) 319 7601; E-mail: [email protected].

Source: www.fuelcellmarkets.com

Hydrogen fuel cellsto power busesScientists from the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO) haveleveraged their know-how of liquidhydrogen handling to design anddevelop hydrogen fuel cells to runautomobile buses. ISRO and TataMotors agreed in 2006 to designand develop an automobile bus thatuses hydrogen fuel cell, says Mr.V. Gnana Gandhi, ISRO’s honoraryadviser. Technical specifications forall the elements and general spe-cifications for the bus, along withthe preliminary and detailed designreview for all components and sub-systems, have been completed, Mr.Gandhi added. Tata Motors is work-ing on the locomotive and handlingsystems of the bus. The first proto-model has already been assembled.

Source: www.indiaedunews.net

NedStack’s fuel cell modules


HYDROGEN ENERGY

Hydrogen generatedusing red hot steelTata Steel in India has developed ahigh-temperature cracking methodof steam to create hydrogen. In theprocess of manufacturing steel, redhot slag is created. With the newprocess, water is sprayed over thered hot slag-steel achieving temper-atures of around 1,600ºC. At hightemperatures such as this, watermolecules separate into atoms ofhydrogen and oxygen.

The upside for Tata Steel is that theprocess yields around 70 per centpure hydrogen, which can be usedto power its plant. Currently, TataSteel uses mainly oil for power, butthis will be replaced by hydrogenpower once the high temperaturewater splitting process goes online.

Source:www.hydrogencarsnow.com

Ultra low-carbonhydrogen productionScientists at Manchester University,the United Kingdom, are working ona new method of producing hydro-gen that they claim could reducethe energy required to produce thegas by a factor of 10, potentially aenergy-efficient and cost-effectivemeans of powering fuel cells. Theresearch – involving 13 universitiesacross the country – is on plasmareforming, which scientists believecould slash the temperatures re-quired to produce hydrogen.

Currently, hydrogen is mostly pro-duced through steam reforming, inwhich catalysts are applied to amixture of methane and steam athigh pressures and temperatures(800-1,000ºC). Achieving such tem-peratures requires high levels ofenergy and as a result, the carbonsavings that the zero-emission fuelcells offer are partially offset by the

energy spent to produce hydrogen.However, Professor ChristopherWhitehead, who leads ManchesterUniversity’s research effort, insiststhat the plasma-reforming processcould help cut the carbon footprintassociated with hydrogen produc-tion by up to 90 per cent.

Adding an electrical discharge to theplasma initiates the reaction neededto remove hydrogen from methaneat relatively low temperature, about100ºC, improving the energy effici-ency of the process, explained Prof.Whitehead. The process has beenpioneered on a small scale to re-move pollutants from gas flue pipes,but Prof. Whitehead is confident thata technically feasible version of theprocess could be developed withinfive years. The technology would behighly scalable, helping to addressthe hydrogen distribution problemsthat experts believe will representthe biggest stumbling block to main-stream adoption of fuel cells.

Source: www.businessgreen.com

See-throughhydrogen generator

It may look like a simple canisterbut it can help save money and keeppollution out of the air. Mr. Roger

Seratt of Fairdealing Hydrogen CellCompany has developed a new hy-drogen cell that he assures will in-crease fuel mileage of automobilesby up to 40 per cent. Mr. Seratt’s“See-through” hydrogen cell technol-ogy allows a water-burning hybrid.The hydrogen cell kit simply hooksup to any vehicle without any modi-fication required, he claims.

The unit requires only 12 volts ofDC power, and the power is drawnfrom the battery only when the vehi-cle’s ignition switch is on. The cellis filled with a mixture of baking sodaand water, adequate to generatehydrogen for 2-4 tanks of petrol, de-pending on the size of the vehicle.

The hydrogen-oxygen mixture produ-ced is drawn into the vehicle intakesystem and burned by the enginetogether with the petrol. The hydro-gen gas causes the vehicle to burnthe petrol more efficiently and re-places part of the petrol needed topower the vehicle. The result of thesystem is a quieter, smoother run-ning car, reduced emissions andhuge savings, claims Mr. Seratt.

Source: www.areawidenews.com

Fifth generationfuel-cell vehicleA Volkswagen Lingyu running onhydrogen fuel cell was manufac-tured by Shanghai VW on its latestfuel cell power-train platform. Themodel is based on Volkswagen’sPassat. The eco-friendly Lingyuachieves zero emissions, releasingonly water as a by-product of thechemical reaction of oxygen andhydrogen that powers the car. Bothsafety and performance have beenimproved. The car has a top speedof 150 kmph and can run for morethan 300 km without the need forre-charging, according to sourcesat VW Shanghai.

Source: www.gasworld.com

A customer holding the hydrogen cell


Hydrogen Energy

Lightweighthydrogen ‘tank’Dr. Robin Gremaud, a researchersponsored by the Netherlands, hasshown that an alloy of magnesium,titanium and nickel is excellent atabsorbing hydrogen. This light alloybrings a step closer the everydayuse of hydrogen as a source of fuelfor powering vehicles. A hydrogen‘tank’ using this alloy would havea relative weight that is 60 per centless than a battery pack.

The main problem of using hydrogenin transport is the secure storageof this highly explosive gas. This canbe realized by using metals that ab-sorb the gas. However, a drawbackof this approach is that it makes thehydrogen ‘tanks’ somewhat cumber-some. The battery comes off evenworse. An electric car would requireto carry 317 kg of modern lithiumbatteries for a journey of 400 km.Dr. Gremaud’s light metal alloy willcut this down to a hydrogen tankof ‘only’ 200 kg.

In his research, Dr. Gremaud madeuse of a technique for measuring theabsorbance of hydrogen by metals,based on the ‘switchable mirrors’phenomenon discovered at the VUUniversity, Amsterdam – that somematerials lose reflection ability byabsorbing hydrogen. Using this tech-nique of hydrogenography or ‘writingwith hydrogen’, Dr. Gremaud wasable to simultaneously analyse theefficacy of thousands of differentcombinations of the metals magne-sium, titanium and nickel.

The analysis requires each of thethree metals to be eroded from anindividual source and depositedonto a transparent film in a thinlayer of 100 nm using sputteringdeposition. This ensures that thethree metals are deposited ontothe film in different ratios. When thefilm is exposed to different amounts

of hydrogen, it is clearly visible, evento the naked eye, which composi-tion of metals is best at absorbinghydrogen. Dr. Gremaud is the firstto use this method for measuringhydrogen absorption.

Source: www.sciencedaily.com

A revisit to an oldhydrogen productionexperimentIn the early 1800s, during the peakof the Industrial Revolution, sciencerevolved around steam engines andother coal-powered applications. Itmay hence seem odd that, in 1833,Mr. G.D. Botto, an Italian physicist,was experimenting with a methodfor generating hydrogen.

Mr. Botto’s main objective was “toshow to the scientific communitythat electricity could be obtainedby a source of heat through his in-genious device,” said Dr. RobertoDe Luca of University of Salerno inItaly. Dr. De Luca is part of a teamof Italian scientists who revisited Mr.Botto’s experiments to investigatewhether the technique could haveany application for today’s energyproblems. The Italian team was in-spired by the convenience of the1833 device, which can be easilyfabricated using widely availablematerials. A modified version of thedevice produced enough electro-motive force to generate hydrogen,though it had very low power con-version efficiency.

Mr. Botto’s original device consis-ted of a chain of iron and platinumwires alternately connected to formthermocouples, which are used toconvert a temperature differenceinto an electric voltage. The chainwas wrapped around a wooden stickso that the iron-platinum junctionswere evenly positioned on oppositesides of the stick. By heating thecontraption with a flame of burning

alcohol, he could create an electro-motive force. He then passed thegenerated electric current throughwater to illustrate how the methodcould be used to produce hydrogenthrough electrolysis.

The Italian team made some majoradjustments to Mr. Botto’s device.They first considered substitutingcopper for platinum in the thermo-couples and totally replacing thethermocouples with thermoelectricsemiconductors for greater efficien-cy. Also, instead of a flame of burningalcohol, they considered using solarpower to heat the thermocouples/semiconductors. To cool the otherside and thus create a temperaturedifference, the wooden stick mightbe replaced with a hollow electri-cally insulating material throughwhich water could run to cool thedesired junctions.

The researchers then estimated thetemperature difference and found itwas only about 1 mV. They also es-timated a power output of about 20mW. Despite the low power conver-sion efficiency, the team proposedthat the solar-powered device couldgenerate enough current to producehydrogen gas through electrolysis.

Source: www.physorg.com

Global Renewable EnergyPolicies and Measures

DatabaseThis database provides information on policiesand measures taken or planned to encouragethe uptake of renewable energy. It covers IEAmember countries, together with members ofthe Johannesburg Renewable Energy Coali-tion, and Brazil, China, the European Union,India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa. Thedatabase aims to complement the policy ana-lysis carried out by the IEA on renewableenergy. For more information, contact:

The Database ManagerInternational Energy Agency (IEA)

E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.iea.org


BIOMASS ENERGY

Olive stonescould yield biofuelScientists have discovered that olivestones can be turned into bio-etha-nol, a renewable fuel that can beused as an alternative to petrol ordiesel. The development gives theolive processing industry an oppor-tunity to make profitable use of thefour million tonnes of olive stones itgenerates every year. The processwas developed by scientists fromthe Spanish Universities of Jaénand Granada.

“The low cost of transporting andtransforming olives stones makethem attractive for biofuels,” saidresearcher Mr. Sebastián Sánchez.The olive stone, expelled in the pro-cessing of olive oil and table olives,makes up around a quarter of thetotal fruit. It is rich in polysaccha-rides that can be broken down intosugar and then fermented to yieldethanol.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Biodiesel filtrationtechnologyIn the United States, Schroeder Bio-fuels has released a new biodieselpurifying solution, which is capableof purifying biodiesel generatedfrom any feedstock in a single passprocess. Eco2Pure is described bythe company as a unique cellulose-based, natural and sustainable com-position of adsorbents. “It has thepowerful dry-washing capability ofMagnesol, but has the applicabilityof a column-based treatment,” saidMr. Jonathan Dugan, Schroeder’sbiofuels product specialist.

Eco2Pure system works by pass-ing unwashed biodiesel through afixed bed of purification media. Themedia clean the fuel by removingthe residues, fuel contaminants andsoaps. Each kilogram of the product

is capable of purifying between 350to 700 litres of biodiesel, keepingthe frequency of media replacementto a minimum, Mr. Dugan said.

Source:www.biodieselmagazine.com

Biofuel productionusing fungiProf. Amir Sharon, from the PlantSciences Department of Tel AvivUniversity in Israel has geneticallymodified some fungi to yield largebiomass, which can then be con-verted into a first-rate biofuel.

Prof. Sharon and his colleaguesdeveloped a transformation-basedapproach to cultivating Aspergillusniger – that is, the fungus has beengenetically engineered to be lesssensitive to external conditions andenvironmental stresses, have im-proved sustainability in fermentationculture, and have both enhancedgrowth rate and spore production.As a result, the fungal cultures ex-hibit a dramatic increase in freshand dry biomass production, enhan-ced spore production and extendedviability.

Scientists at University of Warwick,the United Kingdom, are co-ordinat-ing a global effort to sequence thegenome of the mushroom Agaricusbisporus – also known as the tableor button mushroom. A better under-standing of the mushroom’s genomecould assist in the creation of bio-

fuels and help remove heavy metalsfrom contaminated soils, the sci-entists feel. Button mushrooms arehighly efficient secondary decom-posers of plant material, such asleaves and litter, breaking down thematerial that is too tough for otherfungi and bacteria to handle.

Mushroom research has reacheda higher stage with scientists say-ing that the Chinese mushroom thatis growing in Novozymes A/S labo-ratories may hold a solution to theglobal energy problems. Scientistsin the Danish company are testingmushrooms and lichen to find onethat will turn corn cobs and sugar-cane stalks into biofuel. An afford-able alternative to petrol made fromplant waste will end concerns thatglobal hunger for energy is drivingup food prices worldwide.

Fungi like mushrooms and lichenmake enzymes to eat rotting logsand decaying leaves. Biofuel produ-cers use these enzymes to breakdown the complex carbohydratesin plant cells into a soup-like mix-ture of simple sugars that yeastcan eat. In a process much similarto making beer, yeast ferments themixture, producing ethanol. Enzy-mes now on the market can’t breakdown the tougher parts of plantseffectively enough to be affordable.

Source: www.commodityonline.com

Biogas converted toelectricity and heatusing fuel cellsHelbio S.A. of Greece, a subsidi-ary of Morphic Technologies AB inSweden, has been converting bio-gas from sewage to electricity andheat. Following a four-month trialwith Patras Municipal Corporationfor Water Supply and Waste WaterManagement starting in June 2008,the company has decided to launcha range of these energy systems

Magnified image of Aspergillus niger


Biomass Energy

in Europe. The trial system pro-duces 20 kW of electrical energyand 25 kW of heat energy.

The first part of the system is apurification filter for the biogas thatfilters out sulphur, malodorous sub-stances and other impurities. Thebiogas is then converted into hydro-gen using Helbio’s reformer beforebeing fed into a fuel cell manufac-tured by the Italian subsidiary ofMorphic, Exergy Fuel Cells.

The trial has demonstrated that thegenerated hydrogen is pure enoughto run a fuel cell without contamina-ting the membranes and catalyst.The carbon monoxide (CO) contentof the hydrogen must be less than50 ppm. Helbio’s biogas reformerhas been shown to achieve a purityof 1.5 ppm CO, which is consideredexceptionally good. The next stepwill be to offer products with higheroutputs – 125 kW and 250 kW fuelcells – in partnership with ExergyFuel Cells.

Source: www.fuelcelltoday.com

Home-grown biodieselMr. Chuck Flynn, a research chemistat the Eastern Ag Research Centreof Montana State University (MSU),the United States, is studying thepotential of biodiesel from locallygrown oilseeds. SunBio Systems,based in California, set up a small,farm-style biorefinery and reactorat the MSU site. Mr. Flynn is makingbiodiesel in the hope of refining somethat will measure up to ASTM stand-ards. If it doesn’t meet ASTM stand-ards, the biodiesel won’t burn cleanin the engine.

Mr. Steve Austin, SunBio SystemsPresident, said the company hasset up a couple of these small re-fineries in the country. The goal isto find several producers who wantto pool together to buy a refinery,set it up in a shop, grow their own

oilseeds, crush them and make bio-diesel to run their farm equipment.

Mr. Flynn said he will be using alldifferent kinds of oilseeds includingcanola, sunflower, camelina andflax. After crushing both oleic andlinoleic types of these oilseeds,they will use the oil to create thebiodiesel. Then they test the pro-duct to measure its horsepower. Mr.Flynn said the research involveslooking at how biodiesel developedfrom the crops compares in termsof storage, combustion, gelling pro-perties and energy levels.

In the biodiesel process, Mr. Flynnuses methanol, catalyst and the oil.He combines those in the reactor,and heats and mixes the ingredi-ents until a reaction takes place.Biodiesel and glycerol are formed,and 95 per cent of the glycerinesettles out in a half hour. Excessmethanol is then removed. Aftersome time, the biodiesel is washedto remove some of the impurities.Thereafter, the substance is passedthrough a resin column to removeas much impurities as possible andall of the methanol. Mr. Flynn saidresearchers have developed hybridoilseeds that can be used to makebiodiesel. Since biodiesel freezes,the oilseeds need to make the typeof biodiesel that can pass “the coldpoint” test.

Source:www.farmandranchguide.com

Research in earneston biofuelsIn the United States, SustainableEnergy Research Centre (SERC)of the Mississippi State University(MSU) is combating rising energydemands with focused research inbio-oil and bio-crude fuel sources.SERC co-director Dr. Gleen Steelsaid SERC research has movedfrom small-scale testing to near-commercial development and usageof bio-oil.

Currently, MSU researchers canproduce an estimated litre of bio-oil per day, Dr. Steele said. SERC’sresearch into bio-oil utilizes trees,one of Mississippi’s largest resour-ces. SERC research has developeda process that stabilizes the bio-oil and allows the oil to be refinedinto a product comparable to petroland diesel. These processes havethe potential to create new indus-tries in the state. SERC bio-cruderesearch focuses on microbes thatdecompose waste by targeting thecolonies that efficiently turn wasteinto oil, and extracting glyceridematerial from the decompositionprocess.

Source:media.www.reflector-online.com

Converting glycerolinto methanolIn the United Kingdom, the Uni-versity of Oxford chemists havedeveloped a process for convertingglycerol – an unwanted by-productin the production of biodiesel – intomethanol, another potential biofuel.The process offers an alternativeproduction route for methanol, thevast majority of which is currentlyproduced from natural gas. Prof.Edman Tsang, an inorganic chem-ist at Oxford and lead researcheron the project, says the glycerol-to-methanol process essentially

SunBio Systems’ President Mr. SteveAustin and MSU research chemist

Mr. Chuck Flynn with a refinery


Biomass Energy

creates methanol “for free”. Con-verting the unwanted glycerol tomethanol can help make biofuelbusinesses more financially viable,he says.

The conversion process is attrac-tive because it is relatively simpleand inexpensive, as it operates atrelatively mild conditions and lowtemperatures – a pressure of 20 barand a temperature of 100ºC suffi-cient, Prof. Tsang says. The processuses an unspecified precious metalcatalyst that, according to Prof.Tsang, is extremely selective, pro-ducing almost no by-products suchas methane or carbon dioxide. Thenew process has been patented.

Source: www.tcetoday.com

Production of bio-ethanol from bamboo

In Japan, a team of researchers atShizuoka University has succeededin developing a new technology toefficiently produce bio-ethanol frombamboo. The woody grass growsfaster than trees and using it forbiofuel production will not impactany food sources, unlike like sugar

cane or corn. This makes bambooan attractive alternative for produ-cing the fuel.

Led by Dr. Kiyohiko Nakasaki, abiochemical engineering professor,the team has developed a methodof rendering bamboo into an ultra-fine powder, which, at 50 µm, is 10times finer than that produced byprevious methods. To produce etha-nol from bamboo, its cellulose, thelargest component of its plant cells,needs to be broken down into asimple sugar, glucose, before fer-mentation. However, cellulose ishard to break down, and previousefficiency rates only reached 2 percent.

With the new method, cellulose canbe converted into glucose at an ef-ficiency of 75 per cent. The methodis a combination of various techni-ques, including removing lignin – thesecond-largest component of plantcells – using lasers, and a moreefficient biodegrading process. Theteam is aiming to raise that figureto 80 per cent in three years, andlower production costs to around100 yen (US$1) per litre.

Source: mdn.mainichi.jp

Pond scum power:Fuel from algaeRenewable Energy Group of Ames,the United States, says it has dev-eloped a process that takes the oilfrom algae and converts it into bio-diesel fuel. “Algae oil would give usa third option as a biodiesel feed-stock after soy bean oil and animalfats,” states Mr. Daniel Oh, ChiefOperating Officer of RenewableEnergy Group.

The soy bean oil that has been thebasic oil feedstock for biodiesel hasdoubled in price in the recent past,robbing operating biodiesel plantsof their profitability and forcing shut-downs or delays at other facilities.

“People who have made fun of greenslime and pond scum will not do itin the future, when they find out notonly how valuable the oil is but alsothe by-products,” states Mr. JimmySimpson, an algae researcher atMaharishi University of Manage-ment. Mr. Simpson had won a US$2 million grant from the Iowa PowerFund for an algae experiment thatwill grow different types of algaecultures in Iowa’s varying climateconditions and separate the oil. Mr.Simpson’s group will work with aprocess that he says can take aby-product of algae after the oil isextracted and convert it into a high-protein human food additive. A thirdIowa algae project is planned forGreen Plains Renewable Energy’sethanol plant, where the companyplans to build a greenhouse closeto the plant to extract oil that can bea feedstock for ethanol production.

Source:www.desmoinesregister.com

Potential source of bio-ethanol: aclump of bamboo

EU-India Wind Energy NetworkEIWEN is a network of European andIndian industry, small and mediumenterprises, financial institutions,universities, research institutes andcivil society associations in the windenergy sector. The network aims toenable direct partnerships amongvarious wind energy actors in Indiaand Europe for ensuring sustaina-ble and economically competitivedevelopment of wind energy sectorin India and the world.

For further information, contact:

Mr. Suman KumarConfederation of Indian Industry

Plot No: 249-F, Udyog ViharPhase - IV, Gurgaon - 122015

HaryanaIndia

Tel: +91 (124) 4014060-67Fax: +91 (124) 4014080

E-mail:[email protected]

Website:http://www.euindiawind.net


RECENT PUBLICATIONS

30 Mar-1 Apr 4th Asia Solar PhotovoltaicShanghai Exhibition 2009China Contact: Shanghai Aiexpo

Exhibition service Co. Ltd.,5F No. 501 Guangyue Road,Shanghai, China 200434.Tel: +86 (21) 6592 9965;Fax: +86 (21) 6528 2319;E-mail: [email protected];Website: www.AsiaSolarExpo.com.

8-10 Apr International Green EnergyDaegu Expo Korea 2009Rep. of Korea Contact: Green Energy Expo,

1676 Sangyeok-dong, Buk-gu,Daegu 702712, Republic of Korea.Tel: +82 (53) 601 5375;Fax: +82 (53) 601 5372;E-mail: [email protected];Website: www.energyexpo.co.kr.

21-24 Apr PV Tech Expo ChinaShanghai Contact: Reed Huayin (Shanghai)China International Exhibitions, 6th Floor,

New HuaLian Mansion,No. 775, Middle Huai Hai Road,Shanghai 200020, China.Tel: +86 (21) 5118 8222;Fax: +86 (21) 5118 8200;E-mail: [email protected];Website: www.nepconchina.com.

4-7 May Wind Power 2009Chicago Contact: American Wind EnergyUnited States Association,

1501 M Street NW, Suite 1000,Washington, DC 20005,United States of America.Tel: +1 (202) 383 2512;Fax: +1 (202) 383 2505;E-mail: [email protected]

6-8 May SNEC PV Power Expo 2009Shanghai Contact: SNEC PV Power ExpoChina Organizing Committee,

Room 1008, No. 1525,Zhongshan Road (W),Shanghai 200235, China.Tel: +86 (21) 5118 8222;Fax: +86 (21) 5118 8200;E-mail: [email protected];Website: www.snec.org.cn.

20-23 May Renewable Energy Thailand 2009Bangkok Contact: CMP Media (Thailand) Ltd.,Thailand 8th Floor, Lertpanya Building,

41 Sri Ayudhya Road, Rajathewee,Bangkok 10400, Thailand.Tel: +66 (2) 642 6911;Fax: +66 (2) 642 6919;E-mail: [email protected];Website: www.cmpthailand.com.

TECH EVENTS

Directory Indian Wind Power 2008The current edition of Directory Indian Windpower, likethe previous seven yearly issues, carries comprehen-sive data on wind potential sites in the various statesof India. The 850-page directory also covers promo-tional policies and incentives of the state and centralgovernments, supportive role of the Centre for WindEnergy Technology, the technical particulars of thewind electric generator, the current scenario on windpower development, and the regulatory environmentin the country.

It provides encyclopaedic information on the windfarmsin India and the details of the various stake-holders,compiled with more than 2,500 entries. Proceduralsteps for the establishment of windfarm, guidelinesfor diversion of forest land for wind power projects,etc. are some of the related subjects touched uponin the Directory. In nutshell, the Directory will serveas an indispensable reference book for all individualsand agencies directly or indirectly connected with thedevelopment of wind energy sector.

Contact: Consolidated Energy Consultants Limited,162, Maharana Pratap Nagar, Zone II, Bhopal 462011, India. Tel: +91 (755) 255 3681, 255 5479; Fax:+91 (755) 255 0481; E-mail: [email protected].

Ocean Wave Energy: CurrentStatus and Future PerspectivesThis reference book provides an updated and globalperspective on ocean wave energy conversion. Thebook is oriented to the practical solutions that thisnew industry has found so far and the problems thatany device needs to face. It describes the principlesapplied to machines that transform wave power intoelectricity, and also provides a historical review, stateof the art of modern systems, a full-scale prototypeexperience and future perspectives.

The authors are recognised researchers, and they givean overall perspective of the state of the art of differenttechnologies. The book does not intend to point to aspecific technology; the main motivation is to provide,both to academia and industry, a first contact withthe current status of wave energy conversion tech-nologies, hopefully inspiring the next generation ofengineers and scientists.

Contact: Springer Asia Limited, Unit 1703, Tower I,Enterprise Square, 9 Sheung Yuet Road, KowloonBay, Hong Kong. Tel: +852 2723 9698; Fax: +8522724 2366; E-mail: [email protected].


PUBLICATIONS from APCTT

PERIODICALS(Free access at www.techmonitor.net)

Asia Pacific Tech Monitor (6 issues/year) (e-version)

VATIS Update (6 issues/year) Biotechnology (e-version) Non-conventional Energy (e-version) Food Processing (e-version) Ozone Layer Protection # (e-version) Waste Management (e-version)

Indian Rupees* US Dollars*BOOKS (India, Bhutan

and Nepal)

Managing Innovation for the New Economy: Training Manual, 2002 1,000.00 50.00Volume 1: How to Guide & Quick reference materialsVolume 2: Articles & LecturesRegional Capacity-building for the Adoption of ISO-14000 and 600.00 30.00Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technology: Training Manual, 2000Small Rural Industries in the Asia Pacific Region: Enhancement of 600.00 30.00Competitiveness of Small Rural Industries in a Liberalized EconomicEnvironment and the Impact of Poverty Alleviation, 2000Technology Transfer and Technological Capacity-building in Asiaand the Pacific

Volume 1: Big Countries and Developed Economies, 1999 600.00 30.00 Volume 2: ASEAN, NIEs, SAARC and the Islamic Republic 600.00 30.00

of Iran, 1999 Volume 3: Least Developed and Pacific Island Countries and 600.00 30.00

Economies in Transition, 1999 Volume 4: Emerging Issues in Regional Technological Capability- 600.00 30.00

building and Technology Transfer, 1999Rural Industrialization as a Means of Poverty Alleviation: Report of 600.00 30.00the Regional Seminar on the Enhancement of Partnerships amongGovernmental, Non-governmental and Private Sector Entities for thePromotion of Rural Industrialization for Poverty Alleviation, 1999Institutional Development for Investment Promotion and Technology 500.00 25.00Transfer, 1999Ozone Depletion Substances Phase-out Technologies: Problems & 300.00 15.00Issues on Technology Transfer, Absorption and Generation, 1998Development and Utilization of S&T Indicators: Emerging Issues in 300.00 15.00Developing Countries of the ESCAP Region, 1998ODS Phase-out: A Guide for Industry, 1998 500.00 25.00Proceedings of the Consultative Meeting on Technology Management 800.00 40.00Education and Training for Developing Countries, 1997

Notes: Amount less than Rs 500 should be sent through a demand draft only. Otherwise, payment should be made by cheque/demand draft/UNESCO coupon in favour of the Asian & Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology, payableat New Delhi.# Print version supported by the Ozone Cell, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India, for distribution toa select target group.* Amount to be sent to APCTT with the order for covering costs and handling charges.

Non-conventional Energy - ESCAP Repository

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